We're Off!

We h ad a great time with Christine Wedel and her friend, Rose Bos, both fresh off the Doulos. They arrived by boat in Friday morning. Saturday I took them shopping while Dad worked on all the things he needed to do before we could leave the country the next day. He has been working very steadily on getting all the Annual Reviews, Ministry Plans and Ministry Descriptions sent off to the home office. In all, by the time we left he had sent our over 65 documents going in various directions. It was a late night for both of us after taking the girls out for a snazzy dessert at Candy's at 10pm. Dad got about 2 hours sleep and I got about 4.

Next morning we got out the door a little late and took Uncle Scott's car up to the airport where we left it for him to put up when they came in later in the day. We got off uneventfully, got ataxi driver from Bohol to take us to NAIA, stood in line for an hour waiting for the Jet Star counter to open and we were in like Flynn.

All food and drinks were for sale in Jet Star, and mighty pricey, seemed to us. Cheap flight, nice plane, expensive food, we are okay with that. We got tea and water. Arrived in Singapore after a 5 hour flight. Took the city bus to a certain bus stop which was identified with the help of a fellow passenger and the driver. We continued to ask directions and show our little map, walked about 15 minutes, until we found Fern Loft. It was a narrow door next to "Georges Mad Bar", steep stairs going up to the backpacker's hostel. We had a private room with twin beds, bathroom down the hall, and no towels for $35. This included a free beer and a free game of pool in the bar below... We had supper at Chutney Mary's, Indian fast food, but not Indian cheap food. Very tastey! We went to bed early and without showers since we had no towels. Dad set the phone alarm for 3:30 am. I woke up at 1am wondering if we might have missed the alarm... we hadn't. I went back to sleep and dreamed that we woke up in a different room in the hostel.

We woke up at the alarm, scurried around, got out the door, down the dark, narrow stairs and found a Sikh driving a fully loaded Mercedes as a taxi! It cost about $7.50 to get to the Budget terminal. Really nice, clean, modern place, and we had a good breakfast after we checked in with Tiger Airways. Yaaawn. Our flight left at 6am and we arrived in Chiang Mai at 8:45 am, but with the time change, it was 7:45 in Chiang Mai. Took a taxi to the Chiang Mai Sheraton for one night of rest and luxury, compliments of a nice Christmas present from New Heart!

We are now in our room, 1214, overlooking the Ping river. After we showered, Dad went and got a one hour traditional massage and I took a nap. We still need to get dollars cashed to Baht , so we decided to eat lunch in the hotel, a buffet that was as amazing as their breakfast buffet, again, thanks to New Heart (but that used it all up!). After lunch, it was nap time again and Dad slept for about 5 hours! He sure did need it and deserve it!

Now, at 7:22 pm, we are sitting in our room, I am typing and Dad is doing a crossword puzzle. We aren't hungry for supper, at least not yet. Maybe a snack later. We haven't yet had our free Piña Colada...